Press Release: As the New Year is upon us, Danish professional triathlete Helle Frederiksen enters the 2018 season with new focuses and a new partnership with bicycle industry leaders, Trek Bicycle Corporation. Focus on IRONMAN and Kona Standing as an IRONMAN rookie, having recently completed her IRONMAN debut in Arizona, with a second-place finish and a new Danish record of 8:55:35, Helle Frederiksen now turns her career focus towards full-distance IRONMAN. In doing so, Frederiksen will receive the full backing of Trek and Bontrager as the Danish Olympian makes her first attempt at Kona in 2018. “I’m over the moon to be given the trust and backing of Trek. My entire career has been built with focus on high-performance and no compromises. This aligns well with Trek. Their bikes and wheels, along with performance expertise, will ensure I have every advantage on the bike when racing.” Tipped for success As an accomplished ITU athlete and London 2012 Olympian, Helle Frederiksen has been widely tipped for success at IRONMAN. Frederiksen says “Full-distance IRONMAN was only going to happen when I felt I was ready. Now with 8 x IRONMAN 70.3 victories and major accomplishments over the Olympic and half-distance, I feel I’m physically and mentally ready for the challenge of IRONMAN. It is a massive commitment. To perform at the highest level takes a big effort and a lot of logistics, to now have Trek on board as both equipment and performance specialists it is a big asset to me and very reassuring.” Sports Marketing Director at Trek, Tim Vanderjeugd spoke of his confidence in Helle and her joining Trek,...

An educational photo series captured by Danish Sports Photographer, Jesper Grønnemark with words by Helle Frederiksen. To be our best and to race at our best we need to recognize the things that help us perform. This photo series captures my environment that, as a team, we have invested in, providing me the best opportunity to race at my best. – Build your team Triathlon on paper is an individual sport, yet to be successful in triathlon it is anything but an individual sport. Like most things, the environment that we create for ourselves is something we have a lot of control over. People and the people we work with contribute to this environment. Never under estimate the importance and impact good people have on your performance, irrelevant of your targets. Patrizia Pastwa has become influential in bringing me back to the top of this sport from injury, and is one of those people who enables me to race at my best. I wanted to race at my best at The Island House Invitational Triathlon and having Patrizia on hand was going to enable me to do this. Recognizing event logistics and eliminating stress Being 9 years a professional and having raced in over 120 international competitions, you learn to recognize quite easily the things that cause stress and negatively impact a race. Going into competition, your goal should always be to eliminate as much stress as possible. Familiarize yourself with the surroundings and logistics of a race. Ask yourself “Can you ride?”, “What are the logistics to riding?”, “Where and when will you train?”. Asking yourself these questions...

It’s been a period spanning 18-months. 18 long, career changing months, but now, having dealt with chronic knee and leg injuries for what has no doubt been the darkest days of my eight year professional triathlon career, it’s time for me shed light on my story. A story I hope will help you recognize that injury doesn’t make you a weaker, lesser athlete—if you want it to—injury can make you a stronger, better and more well-rounded athlete. I’ve kept the whole story of my injuries on the down-low for much of the past 18-months, mostly because I’ve only recently come out of the battle. I hadn’t found a safe place and I hadn’t found the confident Helle that was sure of herself. It’s not easy to admit that I—an Olympian and now 7-time IRONMAN 70.3 Champion—was struggling every day to be pain free. As professional athletes we’re perceived as “super human” but in fact we are anything but. We are just like you, and just like anyone else we think, ponder, wonder and analyze. We get scared when something we love so much could potentially be taken away from us. The truth be told there were periods during this injury/recovery period, whilst partially bed-bound, I couldn’t see a return to the sport. Not because my drive and passion was no longer there, but because people couldn’t give me answers. People couldn’t accurately tell me what was wrong. But I’m here now—fit, healthy and on a road to the strongest version of me. For some time now I have wanted to share some of the key points that brought me...

Danish athlete Helle Frederiksen and the BMC-Etixx Pro Triathlon Team powered by Uplace have together decided to part ways. After a very successful collaboration the last two years in the team, it became clear that the personal vision of Helle and the vision of the team had grown apart. Helle Frederiksen joined the Uplace-BMC Pro Triathlon Team in 2014 and has played an important role in the successes of the team. Helle Frederiksen indicates “The last couple of years BMC-Etixx Pro Triathlon Team has provided me a great setup, allowing me to mature as an athlete and a human being, as I transitioned from ITU racing into long distance non-draft. I’m thankful to have been a part of one of the most professional triathlon teams in this sport. Now is the right time to move on in order to reach new heights and explore new possibilities in this sport that we all love”. General Manager Bob De Wolf adds: “First of all I would like to express my gratitude for everything Helle Frederiksen has done for our team. Helle has played an instrumental role in the impressive results of the team the last 2 seasons. Helle has won some of the biggest races on the calendar as a member of our team. Helle won 4 x IM70.3 races, including the Latin American Championship, won the US Pro Championship 5150 Hy-vee and took the victory in the first ever Triple Crown event in Bahrain. Besides her outstanding results, Helle has been a great ambassador for the team and a fantastic athlete to work with. We now have come to a point where...

A personal ‘note’ to professional athletes globally… “Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success” – Henry Ford Earlier this week Jodie Swallow, in her words, put forward and published her motivation for helping start the newly formed Professional Triathlon Union (PTU). As like many of Jodie’s written pieces it had meaning, delivered a message that hopefully inspired those that were uncertain. Helped them to see that there really is only one motive for this new union; “for the greater good of our sport.” I wanted to take the time to put together my thoughts. If Jodie’s message wasn’t strong enough already then I think we all agree, more voices are better than none. Now hold that thought, read that again, “more voices are better than none”…now read on. Why are we here? Why have we, Mirinda Carfrae, Timothy O’Donnell, Jodie Swallow, James Cunnama, Rachel Joyce, Sebastian Kienle, Meredith Kessler, Dirk Bockel, Angela Naeth, Andreas Dreitz, Mary-Beth Ellis, Pete Jacobs, Scott DeFilippis, Dylan McNiece and myself, come together and formed what is today known as the “Professional Triathlon Union”? Honestly, because it really matters. It really matters that every single athlete that represents themselves as a “professional athlete” has a voice. We are “professional athletes” so rightfully we should help shape the future of our sport, triathlon. And how does that happen? It’s the same way that Tennis professionals, Golf professionals, Racing drivers and the like all became able to express their voice…it’s called uniting, coming together, collecting thoughts and inspiring change, pushing for the greater good of this sport. Voices Let’s be honest, we, professional triathletes...